Skinny dipping
by renrenren3
Summary: Merlin and Arthur decide to go skinny dipping. Or rather, Arthur decides to. Merlin doesn't really want to. Boyish shenaningans ensue.


It was summer. A hot, sticky, stuffy summer day, one of those days in which one could wish for nothing better than find a nice cool place and nap until evening. Only a madman would be so crazy as to go for a ride on a day like this.

Of course, Merlin thought, it was just his luck that he was the sole servant of such an idiot.

He tugged at his shirt, noticing with distaste that it was completely soaked with sweat. Even taking off his neckerchief and rolling up his sleeves hadn't done much to improve the situation.

Merlin's only consolation was that Arthur couldn't be feeling any better than him. The prince kept pushing a lock of damp hair back from his eyes and fanning himself ineffectively with one hand but still stubbornly refused to give the order to go back.

"It's too hot," Merlin said when he couldn't stand the silence any more.

Arthur turned in the saddle and gave him a dark look. "Really? I hadn't noticed," he said, his words dripping with sarcasm.

"We could go back," Merlin said. He gave Arthur a pleading look. "It's not as if we're going to find those sorcerers, they're long gone..."

"Don't you try to tell me what to do," Arthur said. "They stopped at the village last night, they can't have gone far. I'm not going back to my father without even trying to find them."

Merlin sighed. "Fine, but can't we at least make a stop?" he pleaded. It was crazy to keep riding during the hottest hour of the day.

Arthur frowned but he seemed to share that feeling. He wiped some sweat off his forehead. "All right," he said. He nodded towards the side of the road. "I can hear running water in that direction."

Merlin grinned and tugged the reins of his horse, urging her towards the copse of trees that Arthur was pointing to.

It was even better than Merlin had hoped. The stream wasn't far from the main road but there were trees all around so the air was almost cool.

"Maybe this time you had a good idea," Arthur said, tying his horse to a low branch and giving him a pat on the back. The horse nudged him affectionately and lowered his head to drink. Merlin itched to follow his example.

He crouched in the grass upstream and splashed some water on his face. It was just as deliciously cool as he thought he would. He washed away the worst of the sweat and grime before refilling his water skin.

The water they'd brought had gone lukewarm after hours in the saddle. It was probably better to refill Arthur's as well, if he forgot he would simply steal Merlin's.

Merlin turned to him, opened his mouth to say something and promptly turned away again.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, keeping his eyes firmly shut.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" was Arthur's reply. "I'm taking off my clothes."

The situation was quickly sliding out of Merlin's grasp. "Why are you taking off your clothes?" he asked slowly.

"I can't go swimming with my clothes on," Arthur said in a matter-of-fact tone.

It would have been a reasonable answer except that it wasn't, because nothing could justify the fact that Arthur was cheerfully stripping of all his clothes in front of Merlin. Or rather behind Merlin's back, since he resolutely refused to watch.

"Come on, Merlin, don't be a girl," Arthur said. Merlin felt something hitting him on the back of his head. Upon closer inspection it turned out to be Arthur's shirt, rolled into a ball. "It's not as if you haven't seen me naked before."

Merlin hazarded a quick glance over his shoulder, hoping that Arthur would at least have enough modesty to keep his breeched on, and got an eyeful of Arthur's bare arse instead.

He carefully kept staring ahead until he heard the sounds of water being splashed around and Arthur called, "You can turn around, you big girl."

And true enough, Arthur was standing in the shallow water of the stream, looking at Merlin with half contempt and half amusement. The water didn't even reach up to his chest, but it was an improvement already.

At any rate, Merlin firmly refused to look in Arthur's direction while he wandered around collecting the clothes that Arthur had carelessly thrown around, folding them neatly in a pile.

"Merlin," Arthur called, motioning for him to come closer.

"Yes, sire?" Merlin replied. He tried to keep his tone and expression neutral, staring at a point a couple of inches above Arthur's chest. It was either that or stare shamelessly, and Arthur really didn't need the ego boost.

"Jump in," Arthur said cheerfully. "The water's just perfect."

Merlin stared on. "Thanks but I think I'll pass," he said. It was a tempting idea, but no way Merlin was going to take off all of his clothes in front of Arthur.

"Why no?" Arthur insisted. "You were the one who complained of the heat."

"I'm fine here," Merlin lied. "I'll just go sit under those trees, you can call me when you're ready to go."

But of course this was Arthur, who was not good at all at being reasonable, so Arthur pouted and said, "Don't act all embarrassed, you idiot. I'll look the other way while you get in if it makes you feel any better."

"That's not the problem!" Merlin exclaimed, only too aware that his face was turning red. Arthur smirked.

And, this being Arthur, he probably decided that he'd waited long enough. He lunged forward and pulled Merlin by the arm.

"What are you..." Merlin began, then lost his footing and fell splashing into the stream.

He emerged spluttering and cursing all of the Pendragon dynasty. Arthur smirked and splashed him some more.

Then, of course, Merlin had no choice but to take off his clothes and spread them on the grass to let them dry. And since despite the heat he felt chilly with no clothes on and his skin still wet, he had no choice but to go back into the water.

"You said you wouldn't look," Merlin complained. He was aware that he sounded awfully whiny, but he wished Arthur would stop staring. It wasn't even as if there was that much to stare at. He was skinny and awkward and not much of a looker, especially not next to the prince.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "What does it matter?" he said. "You saw me naked, I saw you naked, where's the problem?"

"Well, it's," Merlin began, licking his lips nervously. Embarrassing, he thought, but he didn't say it because then he'd be even more embarrassed than he was already.

Merlin was being especially careful not to think about how he and Arthur were currently both naked and with nothing much between them but water. Except for the part where he was thinking about it and panicking, of course.

For lack of anything better to do, he splashed Arthur tentatively.

Arthur spluttered after the first, unexpected wave hit him, and Merlin thought that it was just like Arthur to think that he could bully Merlin without having to fear any kind of retaliation. Merlin's victory was short-lived, though, because Arthur wasn't going to give up without a fight.

Apparently there was no law preventing the crown prince and a commoner from engaging in a small-scale naval battle in the middle of a stream, and soon the two of them were completely soaked and out of breath.

Merlin was getting the worst of it, but he didn't mind if it meant it kept his mind away from thoughts of inappropriate nakedness.

He only remembered when Arthur went to retrieve his clothes and found that they had been all soaked during the commotion. This meant that they had to hang his clothes to dry too, and Arthur decided to show his affection for Merlin by trying to drown him.

They ended up wasting the whole day playing around and only got back to Camelot after sundown, shivering in clothes that were still damp. Uther raged at Arthur for failing to capture the sorcerers and Arthur stared at Merlin and mouthed, "This is all your fault."

Merlin thought it was worth it.

Privately, Arthur thought that too.


End file.
